Color Code: Gray

"Gray is my new must-have, grounded neutral—forget black," says New York designer Eric Cohler. "Almost any shade of gray will transcend the traditional, adding freshness. It’s the perfect masculine-feminine combination color to use in a room. Think yin and yang."

“I think a lot of people are scared of gray, because they’re worried that it’s dark, morbid, or depressing,” says San Francisco designer Grant K. Gibson. “But that’s not true. In a room with the right accessories it can be moody and dramatic.”

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Color Code: Gray

“In this dining room, I used gray as a backdrop to play up the other colors,” says Gibson. “The green leather dining chair and bold patterned painted floor pop against the walls.”

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Darryl Carter

“When using colors other than white, I gravitate toward chalky shades of pale,” says Washington, D.C., designer Darryl Carter. “Gray is a challenging color, as it so strongly informs the mood of a space. When I think of gray, I am visualizing the more neutral, cement tones."

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Color Code: Gray

“In this studio, I used a gray dye in the concrete floors, and a slightly gray-tinted gesso on the zinc tabletop,” says Carter. “I felt it was consistent with the very rustic setting."

“I really appreciated the grays we used in this project as all the floors are pietra serena, which is a gray stone from Italy,” says Fernandez. “The cabinet color and stone material balance each other perfectly, and the subtle difference in tones creates interest.”

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Marie Turner

“Gray is serene and subtle, and can signify the glamour of silver or the understated elegance of pewter,” says Marie Turner of New York’s M. Elle Design. “Gray is complex, sophisticated, and simply chic.”

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Color Code: Gray

“Gray became the primary color and soul for our Aspen mountain home,” says Turner. “In the master bedroom, gray created a soft romantic space. All of a sudden, the color wove its way into every room, maintaining a calm and serene palette, and allowing the house to flow from one room to the next with graceful transitions.”

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Thomas O’Brien

“I’m fascinated by, and spend a lot of time on, architectural woodwork. Doors almost always come first in my design process,” says New York designer Thomas O’Brien. “Oftentimes, I will suggest to clients that we consider painted doors, rather than finished wood. Paint can create a new-traditional type of history for a space, and gray is a favorite color for this purpose. It has a vintage, archival quality that I love.”

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Color Code: Gray

“Tall, custom-paneled doors create rooms out of the open spaces of this SoHo loft,” says O’Brien. “Rather than paint them white against colored walls, we used a soft European gray—Pratt & Lambert Olde Silver—with white door casings, to frame all the architecture. Warm gray and cool blue are elegant companions that I use together frequently.”

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